


Growing Pains

by writerjesus



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:34:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerjesus/pseuds/writerjesus
Summary: Everyone thought Seto Kaiba wore sunglasses indoors because he was an asshole. Turns out that isn't the case.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So established relationship with Joey/Seto dating for at least a year. Joey also lives with Seto and Mokuba. And I use the American names because that's what I'm most accustomed to.

It was a joke at first. An inside joke. After all, how could they not make fun of Seto Kaiba for wearing Gucci sunglasses indoors? It wasn’t all the time, of course, but it still made him the butt of more than a few jokes. Still, it was a perfect “Kaiba thing” to do. No one thought to question why Seto did half the things he did besides the fact that he just could. He could be absolutely ridiculous and look flawless anyway.

 

Which was why it was particularly surprising to Joey Wheeler to walk into his boyfriend’s office, finding the young man with his head in his hands. The lights were all off but even from the doorway, Joey could tell that Seto still had his sunglasses on. Joey entered the office and shut the door behind him. “Seto?” He said, approaching the desk. 

 

Seto groaned softly in response, nearly a whimper. The sound alone made Joey go on the defensive. 

 

“Did something happen?” Joey tried again, now by Seto’s side. 

 

Seto sat up straight again, the room only illuminated by the harsh white coming from his open laptop. “Head hurts. It’ll pass.” His voice was soft, uncharacteristically weak. “I took some pills a while ago but they should be kicking in soon.” He motioned vaguely to his drawer with an amber vial, marked with his name and a prescription number. Joey looked at the bottle. “Rizatriptan ODT?” He read aloud. Seto nodded. “Medication for migraines. ODT means that it dissolves under the tongue so I don’t need to have water when I take it. Also absorbs faster since it doesn’t have to go through the digestive track.” 

 

Joey leaned against the desk and ran his fingers through Seto’s hair soothingly. “And that’s why the lights are off too?” He asked, lowering his voice. Seto nodded, leaning slightly into Joey’s gentle touch. Joey hummed softly. “The lights bothered you that much?” 

 

Even when in pain, Seto still had the energy to roll his eyes at his boyfriend. “Bright lights and loud noises tend to agitate migraines, yes.” 

 

Joey blinked as realization dawned on him. “So that’s why you wear sunglasses indoors?” 

 

Again, Seto nodded. “They help until the pills start kicking in.” A few moments later, he took the sunglasses off and gently brushed off Joey’s hand. He turned the lights back on and turned his attention back to his laptop like nothing had happened. The pain hadn’t gone away but it was certainly more tolerable now. Working through pain was a skill that Seto had thoroughly sharpened over the years.    
  
Joey frowned. “Why have you never mentioned that before? We all kind of just figured you wore them because… well. You’re you.” 

 

Seto just shrugged. “Why would I publicize a weakness of mine?”

 

The statement made Joey pause and his chest ache. He wordlessly pressed a kiss to Seto’s temple before excusing himself. When he came back, he had a cup of coffee in hand along with a hot water bottle. The blond set the coffee down by Seto’s hand before securing the hot water bottle to the back of his neck. Seto sighed softly and closed his eyes briefly. 

 

“So I googled some stuff, and heat is supposed to help? I talked to your secretary and she happened to have one. I told her I needed it, so you don’t have to worry about her finding out. And apparently magnesium is good for migraines too, and coffee has magnesium in it, I guess? So they should both help. And caffeine dilates blood vessels too. I can get some vitamins at the store on the way home. Vitamin B is supposedly pretty important.” Joey rambled off, his voice returning to a normal volume out of habit. 

 

Seto smiled softly at his boyfriend’s obvious concern. He’d done his own fair share of research but it was nice to have someone so… deeply invested in his wellbeing. “Thank you. This is enough though.” He motioned for Joey to come closer and pecked his cheek before turning his attention back to his work. “I already feel better.”

 

Joey smiled brightly. “Great! I guess I’ll leave you to work but I’ll see you at home.” He kissed Seto’s cheek once more before leaving his boyfriend’s office. 

 

* * *

  
  


A week later, Seto came home early. Part of the reason was because he wanted to surprise Joey by having dinner at home together. The other part was because his head was killing him. He figured some strong coffee and sitting in bed in the dark would do the trick. 

 

Seto walked into the mansion, making a detour when he heard a commotion in the living room. Joey must’ve invited the nerd herd over. It wasn’t an issue normally. It just meant that Seto would be retreating to his room quicker than usual. He adjusted his sunglasses before stopping inside to let Joey know that he was home. 

 

He knew that Joey had told his friends as soon as he walked the living room. Seto shouldn’t have been surprised. News travelled fast, clearly. As soon as the gang saw him, they all immediately greeted him. That wasn’t the unusual part. The unusual thing was that they all did with hushed voices. And even after their greeting, they turned to each other continuing their previous conversation with heated whispers and quips. 

 

Seto felt annoyance flare inside him like a fire. The group was far from subtle. He looked sharply to Joey. “A word.” A demand rather than a request. He turned on his heel and went to one of the studies, knowing that Joey would follow. Once Joey closed the door behind him, Seto scowled. “You told them?” 

 

Joey tilted his head a little. “Yeah? Just them though. Now we won’t be causing a ruckus while your head hurts.” His scowl matched Seto’s. “You’re welcome.” 

 

Seto sighed irritably. “And I thought I made it clear that it wasn’t anyone’s business. I don’t understand why you’d tell them. It’s none of their concern.” 

 

Joey folded his arms over his chest. “You do know that they all see you as a friend, right? Of course it’s their concern.” 

 

Seto took his sunglasses off so he could properly glare despite the pain and nausea. “Friend or not, I don’t like people knowing my business. I thought you of all people would understand that.” 

 

Joey’s temper rose to match his boyfriend’s. “Sorry for trying to make things fucking easier for you. Don’t take it out on me; I was just trying to help you. It’s not my fault you don’t know how to accept love and affection.” 

 

The moment the words left his mouth, Joey knew he had crossed a line. He saw a flicker of uncertainty, of hurt, cross his lover’s face before it was replaced by a blank slate. Seto smirked but his eyes were cold and dead. “No, it’s not your fault. My mistake, clearly.” 

 

It’d taken so long for Joey to break down Seto’s walls, to get him to be even the slightest bit vulnerable in his presence, to open his heart. Seeing the look on Seto’s face made Joey remember how prepared Seto always was to put his walls back up, to cover everything up out of self preservation. 

 

Before Joey could say anything, do anything to try to fix whatever he had broken inside his boyfriend, Seto was already walking out of the room. Joey grabbed his arm to stop him but Seto yanked his arm away as though burned. Seto met Joey’s eyes coldly, not uttering a word before walking upstairs to their shared bedroom. 

 

Joey ran a hand through his hair, sighing. They’d… talk about things later, he figured. For now… damage control. He went back into the living room to lecture his friends about being more subtle about such delicate matters. (Of course, this backfired when they all said that he was about as subtle as a bulldozer.) 

 

It was only about another hour before the gang all went home and Joey went upstairs to talk to Seto. He figured that they had enough space and time to cool down so they could talk rationally. But when he opened the door to the bedroom, he found it empty. Joey spent several minutes looking through the mansion before going to Mokuba’s room. He knocked once before opening the door. “Hey kiddo. Seen your brother lately?” He asked, hoping to sound casual. 

 

Mokuba was lying stomach down on his bed, playing a game. He didn’t look up. “He was in a little bit ago. Said that something came up and he had to go back to the office and to not wait up for him for dinner.” He paused, finally looking up at Joey. “He didn’t tell you?”

 

Yeah. Joey had definitely fucked up. 


	2. Chapter 2

It took nearly a week of chilling silence for Joey to realize that this wasn’t going to just blow over. Whenever Joey went to Seto’s office, he was either too busy or in a meeting or not in the office, according to his secretary. Clearly Seto had no intentions of letting this go. This did little to calm Joey’s own frustrations.

It took a couple days for Joey to get over it enough to think clearly. After all, he had only been trying to help. It wasn’t his fault if Seto didn’t like it. It took some insight from Yugi that, maybe Seto had told Joey in confidence. And that the same trust that he showed Joey wasn’t explicitly extended to the rest of the group.

Joey knew his boyfriend well enough that, if he decided to wait for Seto to say something first, they probably wouldn’t speak of this ever. And this… this was important. They should talk about this. They weren’t exactly kids anymore. They couldn’t sweep every argument they had under the rug and hope that it would go away and be magically fixed. Joey thought back to his own childhood. Hearing his parents fight in the kitchen as he listened from the stairwell. How they also never talked about things after and how that ultimately ended.

He walked to KaibaCorp’s main office, stopping for some coffee and a gift on the way. Joey had learned early on that there was little point in buying anything for Seto; the man already had everything. But that wouldn’t stop him from trying. He walked into the building with Seto’s usual coffee order (black coffee with two shots of espresso) and a small bouquet of orchids wrapped in parchment paper. The striking blue of the flowers made him stop, reminding him of Seto’s eyes. God, he was gay.

 

Joey went up to Kaiba’s office, smiling as he usually did to his secretary. She seemed wary despite smiling back at him. “Mr. Kaiba is busy right now, I’m afraid. I can tell him you stopped by.” She offered, to which Joey just shook his head. “I’ll just let myself in.” Before the young woman could protest, Joey let himself into the office.

Seto was busying typing on his laptop and didn’t bother looking up to see who his visitor was. “I thought I said I wasn’t to be disturbed,.” he snapped, his temper shorter than usual. “What do you want?” He looked up and stopped when he saw Joey, coffee and flowers in hand clearly a peace offering.

Joey smiled sheepishly. “Hey. Figured you could use a pick me up.” He set the coffee on Seto’s desk and placed the flowers off to the side so they wouldn’t get in his way.

“You got flowers.” Seto stated the obvious despite not really believing it.

Joey nodded. “I thought they looked nice. And that you’d like them.”

Seto was quiet for a few moments but he turned away from his laptop to look at the flowers. A good sign, Joey figured. He looked back to Joey, face neutral. “They’re nice.”

 

Joey smiled. Conversation. This was a good start… At least he wasn’t getting the cold shoulder. “I’m glad you approve.” He paused before biting the bullet. “I’m sorry. About what happened… I didn’t think it would hurt to try to tell the others. But I overstepped and I’m sorry. I said things I shouldn’t have.”

Seto was quiet for a moment, processing Joey’s apology, searching his face for any signs of deceit. Finding none, he sighed and leaned back into his chair. The cold facade he usually wore faded a little. “I understand you were trying to help. But do you understand why I was upset?”

 

Joey paused. “Because you don’t like people knowing that you’re human? Or at least, that you have weaknesses, or however you want to phrase it.”

Seto nodded. “Well, yes. But you told them without asking me.”

 

Joey blinked, at a loss for words. “I, you, I… I didn’t think that you’d-”

“Say yes?” Seto interrupted curtly. “So it’d be easier for you to ask for forgiveness than permission?”

 

Joey felt defensive anger rise in his chest. “Well I know that you certainly wouldn’t tell anyone even if it made you feel worse.”

“And don’t I have a right to what other people know? Or am I dating your entire friend group too?”

 

Joey scowled. “Of course you’re not!”

Seto glared back. “Then maybe consider how I feel when I told you, my boyfriend, something in confidence, and then I find out that you told everyone that we’re even relatively close to! I didn’t ask for it! I never asked to open up to anyone! And you came into my life and you’re a wrecking ball trying to open the flood gates. They’re there for a reason and you just don’t get it.”

 

Joey’s anger quickly faded at Seto’s outburst. His eyes softened, which Seto read as pity. He hissed. “And don’t you dare give me that look. I don’t need your petty sympathies.”

Joey shook his head. “I’m not pitying you. I get it, Seto. I mean, yeah, you’ve gone through a lot of shit, but we both know that we’re more similar than we’d like to admit.” The scars on Joey’s body resonated with the mental scars that Seto bore. Abuse, no matter what kind, left their marks. Especially on children as young as they’d been. “Opening up, it’s terrifying and it could get you more hurt, yeah, but… you can trust me. And you can trust Yugi and the others too. They helped me a lot. And I know that, whether you admit it or not, you opening up to me has helped.”

 

  
Seto took a deep, measured breath to calm himself down. “I get that you tell your friends a lot. And I get you were trying to help. It just… opening up to you is something I’m still struggling with. But I’m trying.”

Joey moved Seto’s desk and spun his desk chair around so they could face each other. “I know. And you’ve gotten a lot better about it.” He sighed softly and took Seto’s hand, lacing their fingers together. “I’m sorry. That I didn’t ask and that I didn’t consider how you felt. And I didn’t mean what I said. I know you know how to receive love and affection, in your own way. And I know that you’re just cautious about doing it. For good reason, given past experience.”

 

Seto squeezed Joey’s hand and tugged Joey down to kiss his cheek. “I know you mean well, just... Ask next time. And we can talk about it.” He smiled a little. “Thank you. It’s nice that I have someone looking out for me.”

Joey cupped Seto’s face and kissed him gently. “I’ll ask next time. And you’re welcome… Are we done fighting now? I really hate fighting with you when we’re, like, actually mad at each other. And I miss having you home.”

 

Seto nodded. “As long as you don’t do anything ridiculously stupid, yes I think we’re okay.” He teased, the jab in line with their usual banter.

Joey smiled brightly, ignoring the jab for now. “Good. Now let’s get you home. I know you haven’t been there in a while and I’m sure you could use some proper sleep.”

 

Some bickering and protests later, Seto finally agreed to return home. The flowers sat in a vase with fresh water on the dresser in their room, a clear sign that Seto really did like them despite his lackluster reaction earlier. The two of them laid down in bed, curled up with one another. Fighting was not an uncommon practice in their relationship. Seto knew that they both had their tempers and they would hurt each other because of them. But what was important is that they learned and grew from their fights and loved each other in spite of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://cdn1.1800flowers.com/wcsstore/Flowers/images/catalog/140953mz.jpg  
> Those are the flowers that Joey got Seto.
> 
> Shout out to CatiDono again for beta reading and for encouraging me to write this in the first place! 
> 
> I may write more of these two in the future...

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer that I don't know the side effects of rizatriptan so forgive any medical inaccuracies. 
> 
> This is my first Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction ever and my first time writing these characters. 
> 
> A special thanks to my friend CatiDono for beta reading this and helping me with the idea in the first place!


End file.
